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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27484027">Brown Sugar Syrup</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/physicalmachinist/pseuds/physicalmachinist'>physicalmachinist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexuality Spectrum, Food, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Internalized Acephobia, M/M, Mentions of alcohol, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Romance, Sexual Identity</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:34:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,272</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27484027</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/physicalmachinist/pseuds/physicalmachinist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Sakusa Kiyoomi has the misfortune of sharing a room with Miya Atsumu for their first year of college, where he has to deal with getting locked out, unsorted laundry, sexual identity crises, and warabimochi.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mentioned Miya Atsumu &amp; Ojiro Aran, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakusa sits in the library every day until midnight. His school day tends to go no later than 7 pm, except for his three-hour-long Intro to Computer Science course on Mondays that ends at 9:30 pm. He doesn’t study the whole time he’s there. Some days, he watches professional volleyball matches. He lives vicariously through the players, sometimes. He misses the feeling of spiking the precise set perfectly into the opposing court. The chemistry between him and the ball, unmatched. Other days, he labors over his less amusing comp sci or calculus homework. He does whatever he can to occupy himself in the drafty library because he doesn’t want to go to his dorm. He doesn’t want to approach the room with the possibility of encountering his roommate, Atsumu, locked in their room with his friend, Aran.</p>
<p>It’s a new habit that occurred five times in the last two weeks, and they only started sharing a room with each other four weeks ago. The most recent time was the day before. It irks Sakusa, for some days he wants nothing more than to lie in bed and procrastinate. But besides sometimes preventing Sakusa from entering his room, Aran hasn’t directly caused Sakusa any trouble. He often does quite the opposite, rather, by keeping Atsumu’s head straight.</p>
<p>The second time Atsumu had Aran over was five days after move-in. By then, entropy had already gotten the best of his side of the room.</p>
<p>“Atsumu, you knew I was coming over today, so why is your side of the room like this?” Aran gestures to a mound of clean clothes on top of Atsumu’s desk, as well as a handful of misc. clothing items spread on the floor. He stares at Atsumu expectantly.</p>
<p>“I was in a hurry. Sorry.” Atsumu proceeds to sort his clothes into his drawers and clean his floor.</p>
<p>It was a terrible habit of Atsumu to wait as long as possible to fold his laundry. Sometimes, he’d wear half of the clothes from the pile before he finally gets around to putting them in their proper place. As for the clothes on the floor, most of which were socks, they were free for rewear until they became unbearable.</p>
<p>The last time Atsumu did laundry, Sakusa asked him to put the unsightly pile away, only to be met with a “don’t tell me what to do.”</p>
<p>Sakusa countered, “Then do what you’re supposed to do.”</p>
<p>Aran elicits the kind of respect from Atsumu for which Sakusa could only wish.</p>
<p>Sakusa checks the time. 11:42 pm.</p>
<p><em>Good enough</em>, he thinks, as he packs his belongings into his backpack.</p>
<p>It takes him roughly 10 minutes to get from the library to his building. With the school being a suburban setting, he finds himself taking the long way from the library more often than not. He walks along the cement pathways and takes in the scenery of classroom buildings and landscaping, as opposed to cutting through lawns. He prefers delaying his return to his dorm for an indefinite amount of time to texting Atsumu to see if it’s okay to enter the room, only for him to not text back.</p>
<p>Sakusa gets to his floor and let’s out a quick sigh of relief when his doorknob is free from any elastics or pieces of clothing. When he enters his room, he sees Atsumu sitting at his respective desk, while Aran sits in Sakusa’s chair, facing Atsumu.</p>
<p>“Oh, Sakusa-kun, Aran’s helping me with our biology homework but we’re almost done here,” Atsumu reasons.</p>
<p>“Yeah, and I’ll put your chair back,” Aran adds.</p>
<p>“Alright. I’m just glad I’m allowed in, tonight,” Sakusa says as he puts his backpack down by the foot of his bed. Atsumu and Aran remain quiet. Sakusa grabs his shower caddy and bathrobe and swiftly exits the room.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Sakusa loves to lose himself in the shower. Washing himself is meditative, and he thinks about any number of things while the lukewarm water hits his skin. He considers how it would be balancing his school work with volleyball if he makes his school’s team in the following week’s try-outs. He knows Atsumu, and likely Aran, would try out as well.<em> They spend so much time together, already, what’s another activity, I suppose</em>.</p>
<p>Sakusa doesn’t have anyone he spends nearly as much time with. It used to be Komori, but since Sakusa decided to go to continue his education, he no longer sees him as often as he used to. <em>I should give him a call.</em></p>
<p>Instead, Sakusa mostly keeps to himself. A classmate or two might ask for help on some assignments, but never anyone to have a meal with. It’s quiet most days in his world, for even his roommate doesn’t mind him so much.</p>
<p>Upon his return to the dorm, Sakusa notices Aran’s absence. He looks to Atsumu, who uses his phone in his bed.</p>
<p>“Ojiro-san left?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we finished up not long after ya left,” Atsumu responds, eyes not leaving his phone.</p>
<p>“Are you two dating?” Sakusa walks to his wardrobe closet to pick out his pajamas while Atsumu slightly flinches at the question and its suddenness.</p>
<p>“Nah, we’re not. What makes you ask?”</p>
<p>“Probably the several nights I came home to something on the doorknob.”</p>
<p>“Right, about that, his roommate has a girlfriend and they hang in their room a lot so...”</p>
<p>“It’s fine.”</p>
<p>“Is that why you started coming back later?”</p>
<p>Sakusa doesn’t respond. Instead, he puts on his clothes while keeping on his bathrobe.</p>
<p>“We’re not dating. We just... mess around sometimes.”</p>
<p>“But you’re friends.”</p>
<p>“And?”</p>
<p>“You already like him as a person. How can you have sex with him and not fall in love?”</p>
<p>At least, that was how Sakusa understood it. You’re supposed to fall in love and express that love with sex, and that sex makes you fall deeper, or whatever the books and movies say.</p>
<p>“Sex doesn’t always equal love.”</p>
<p>Sakusa hangs his towel on his wardrobe door and turns off the lamp on his desk before getting into bed.</p>
<p>“Wait, Sakusa-kun, we’ve been here fer a month and I feel like we’re still strangers. I don’t like sharin’ a room with a stranger, do you?”</p>
<p>“You’re not just realizing we barely talk.”</p>
<p>“No, I’ve thought about it, but I just didn’t think ya liked me.”</p>
<p>“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”</p>
<p>Atsumu smirks. “I have a question. Have you ever had sex, Omi-kun?”</p>
<p>Sakusa grimaces. “What is that? Don’t call me that.”</p>
<p>“Answer the question, Omi-kun.”</p>
<p>“Goodnight, Miya.” Sakusa lies back in his bed.</p>
<p>“You’re not sleepin’ until you answer my question.”</p>
<p>“You can’t prevent me from sleeping.”</p>
<p>“Watch me.”</p>
<p>Atsumu gets up from his bed and puts on a pair of worn socks he left by his bedside. He walks over to Sakusa’s side of the room, and Sakusa eyes him warily. Atsumu picks up his foot and swings it over Sakusa’s bed.</p>
<p>“Don’t you dare!” Sakusa catches Atsumu’s leg before it can make contact. He throws his leg, causing Atsumu to lose his balance for a moment.</p>
<p>“I have had sex before,” Sakusa answers.</p>
<p>“Oh? Was it an ex? What did they look like?”</p>
<p>“That’s all you’re getting.”</p>
<p>Atsumu lifts his leg up again and Sakusa sits up to kick it.</p>
<p>“Okay, okay, but I’ll get it outta you eventually.”</p>
<p>“Goodnight.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This has been a fun way to pretend like I don't have to study. Enjoy :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day of classes proceeds much like the day before for Sakusa. He takes it easy at the library that evening. Half of the reason is because the previous week was exam week, so his life is a little less hectic, but the other half is because he’s finding it difficult to focus. He stares at his notes and daydreams.</p>
<p>
  <em>It’s 7:40, and I’m not being productive. Maybe I should head back to the dorm. Is Miya going to be there? If so, is Ojiro-san going to be there? Does he know that me and Miya actually had a conversation yesterday that wasn’t me being angry about his uncleanliness or him touching my stuff? Does Miya even talk about me to him? Or to anyone else? What does he talk about with others? What does he even–</em>
</p>
<p>Sakusa snaps back into real-time and begins to pack his belongings. It’s not like him to lose concentration on what’s in front of him, but it’s been his fate throughout the entire day. Besides, it’s Friday. How lame is it to spend a Friday night studying in the library? He knows it’s best to retire for the night.</p>
<p>When he arrives at the dorm, he sees Atsumu sitting on his bed, preoccupied with something on his laptop, and holding a bento.</p>
<p>“Miya.”</p>
<p>“Hey, Omi-kun,” Atsumu replies in between bites.</p>
<p>“What’s that?”</p>
<p>“It’s warabimochi. I got it from a sweets shop a couple of blocks from here.” Atsumu uses his nails to rip a small piece from a cluster of warabimochi with his hand and dips it into a side of kinako. He then reaches over to grab a bottle of brown sugar syrup and pours it over his prepared piece. Some of it gets over his hands as he puts the treat into his mouth.</p>
<p>The word Sakusa would use to describe the process is “sloppy.”</p>
<p><em>How could he just eat on his bed like that, and get all of that powder on his laptop? And his hands,</em> Sakusa wonders.</p>
<p>“You should grab a chair, so you could be a little more comfortable while you watch me eat.”</p>
<p>“I’m just... You need chopsticks.” Sakusa starts to walk towards the microwave.</p>
<p>“I tried already. The way it’s packaged, they put all the warabimochi together without the powder, so it sticks together. It was hard to eat with chopsticks.”</p>
<p>Atsumu goes through the process again to eat another piece, which he drowns with the syrup. He misses a bit, which lands on his hand. After Atsumu eats the piece, he licks the syrup off his hand and moves to eat another.</p>
<p>Some days, it’s difficult to get past the little quirks his roommate has, like his nosy tendencies, or his disregard for his washed (and unwashed) clothes, or his eating in bed, especially with the mess he’s making. But, sometimes his hair makes up for–</p>
<p>“Do you have any plans for tonight?” Atsumu sets aside his treat and licks the remaining powder and syrup from his fingers.</p>
<p>It’s not often that Sakusa actually does have plans. A couple of weekends prior, he took the bus home to see his folks but has not done anything particularly “fun” since matriculating. More often than not, he finds himself desiring something new in his life that’s not classes or volleyball. A distraction from his present and his constant thoughts.</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>“Omi-kun, it’s a Friday night. You should find a party to go to or something.” Atsumu flashes Sakusa a smile.</p>
<p>“If you’re mocking me, stop.”</p>
<p>“I’m mostly serious... ish. Why not?”</p>
<p>Sakusa rolls his eyes and walks to his side of the room to grab a packet of beef ramen and a bottle of water from the top of his wardrobe closet. He begins to prepare his dinner when he asks, “Do you have plans?”</p>
<p>“I’m meeting someone.”</p>
<p>“Oh? But it’s getting late.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, we kinda want that.” Atsumu finishes with a smirk.</p>
<p>“Is it for...?” Sakusa trails off.</p>
<p>“We’re watching a movie. I’ll be back late if all goes well.” Atsumu jumps out of his bed and opens his drawers to find clothes.</p>
<p>Sakusa ponders. <em>Is it a date-date or are they hooking up? Does he just like hooking up?</em></p>
<p>“I felt like you’d be the romantic type,” Sakusa blurts.</p>
<p>“Who says anythin’ about tonight won’t be romantic?”</p>
<p>“It’s just that... I thought that with movies... Are you interested in them or is it a hookup?”</p>
<p>“Omi-kun, I would have never thought you’d be this interested in my life,” Atsumu teases, “Have ya taken a liking for me?”</p>
<p>“Don’t flatter yourself.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know which way tonight will go, but I’m okay with whatever. Maybe this could lead to somethin’ else, maybe not. Is that enough info for ya, Omi-Omi?”</p>
<p>“Huh?!”</p>
<p>Atsumu grins back. Sakusa cannot stand him and his goofy, wide smile.</p>
<p>“I think that name suits you, roomie… or should I say, room-Omi?”</p>
<p>“Oh my god.”</p>
<p>Sakusa shakes his head and turns back to mind his and his ramen’s business as Atsumu puts on a pale blue button-down shirt over a white T-shirt and black jeans.</p>
<p>“How do I look?” Atsumu smooths out his shirt and awaits Sakusa’s response.</p>
<p>
  <em>You look good, Miya. Great actually, but I can’t be too generous.</em>
</p>
<p>“You look fine.”</p>
<p>“Fine?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, decent.”</p>
<p>Atsumu opens his wardrobe closet to unveil a half-length mirror hung on the inside of the door. He checks himself out for a moment.</p>
<p>“Well, I think I look awesome.” He sticks his tongue out at Sakusa.</p>
<p>He then grabs his keys and heads towards the door, stopping to put on his shoes.</p>
<p>“Goodnight, Miya,” Sakusa carelessly lets out as he finishes preparing his ramen.</p>
<p>“Goodnight, Sakusa.” Atsumu walks through the door and begins to close it behind him.</p>
<p>“Sakusa?” Sakusa hears himself call out before he can think about it.</p>
<p>Atsumu sticks his head back into the doorway, “Yes. Sakusa.”</p>
<p>“Why?”</p>
<p>“Because you were supposed to say…” Atsumu fixes his face into a scowl and deepens his voice, “You look fantastic tonight, Miya.”</p>
<p>“As if.” Sakusa stifles a chuckle. “Be safe, Miya.”</p>
<p>Atsumu pauses. “Will do,” he says without meeting Sakusa’s eyes. He leaves the room without another word.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm a semi-n00b and might have forgotten to make sure that my italics translated from my word processor in the previous chapters. Whatever was supposed to be in italics (Sakusa's thoughts) should now be italicized 🙃</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sakusa preoccupies himself for the remainder of the night. He does bits and pieces of his homework. He considers texting Komori back after three days of not having done so. </p><p>“How’s school going? Must be busy, huh?” Is the last text Komori sent.</p><p>He misses him. It’s tough to tell him that he hasn’t made any real connections with anyone since he started classes. He doesn’t come off as the friendliest, and even his roommate thought he didn’t like him. But, people are hard to like. They’re complex and have motives, clear or ulterior. Who’s to say whomever Sakusa interacts with has the right ones?  There’s no Komori to ease the dynamics between Sakusa and a stranger.</p><p>There’s a knock on the door, and Sakusa’s genuinely confused as to whom it could be. Atsumu brought his keys with him, but maybe he lost them? But it’s only been a couple of hours. Sakusa looks through the peephole to see Aran on the other side of the door, carrying a large shopping bag.</p><p>“Ojiro-san.” </p><p>“Hey, Sakusa, just call me Aran. Atsumu isn’t here, right?”</p><p>“No, he’s not.” </p><p>“Would you mind if I come in?”</p><p>Sakusa opens the door and Aran trots in.</p><p>“Don’t mind me,” Aran begins, “tomorrow’s Atsumu’s birthday. This is the perfect time to decorate his room.” </p><p>“Oh, is it?”</p><p>“Yup. His brother, Osamu, wanted me to do it for him since it’s their birthday.”</p><p><em>Atsumu really has people who care for him. Aran frequently visited and made sure he was taking care of himself. His brother wants his room decorated for his birthday that I didn’t even know about. He’s currently on a date that might be more than a date.</em> <em>Why would Atsumu ever occupy his time with the likes of</em> <em>me</em>, Sakusa ponders. </p><p>Aran pulls a silver banner that says “Happy Birthday, Loser” hand-painted on it. </p><p>Putting it against the wall of Atsumu’s side of the room, Aran asks “Would you mind helping me out?”</p><p>Sakusa nods. He grabs the other end of the banner and kneels onto Atsumu’s bed. He bends back to watch Aran tape his side of the poster.</p><p>“‘Loser’?” Sakusa questions.</p><p>“It was his brother’s request. He also asked that I put all these pictures of him and send him a picture of the completed room. If you look in the bag, you’ll see them.”</p><p>Sakusa waits for Aran to hold up his side of the banner before he lets go to look at the photos. He sees three different printed photos. One is of him and his brother when they were young, turning 8 years old. They were having a birthday party, and Atsumu looked furiously at his brother. It looked like he had blown out his own candles, and reached over to blow out Atsumu’s candles. Another is of the two from what might not have been so long ago. They were sitting on a bus, and Atsumu was dead asleep. His hair was a darker yellow than it is now, which is a pale blonde. Osamu took a selfie of the two of them as Atsumu’s mouth hung open to an unflattering degree during a nap. </p><p><em> They’re kind of cute </em>, Sakusa thinks to himself. His eyes linger a little long on the yellow-haired twin than the grey-haired one. How peaceful he looked despite his slack-jaw.</p><p>
  <em> Nope. Nope, nope, no. </em>
</p><p>Sakusa looks at the last photo, which shows Atsumu in a drunken stupor, lying down haphazardly on a couch. His head is on top of Aran’s lap while one of his feet is on top of a boy vaguely familiar to Sakusa with short, dark hair and symmetrical side bangs. The table in front of him is riddled with empty bottles and glasses that once held spirits. </p><p>“What’s his name?” Sakusa asks Aran as he points to the boy.</p><p>“Suna Rintarou.” </p><p>“I thought he looked familiar. I have a class with him.”</p><p>“Oh? Small world.”</p><p>“This photo doesn’t look like it was taken too long ago.”</p><p>“It was about a couple of months ago. It was good to be back home and to see my old teammates again, but now I see Atsumu all the time and Suna every so often.” </p><p>“Do you like Miya?”</p><p>Times like this remind Sakusa of how he should really stop and think before speaking. <em> Of course he doesn’t like him. They’re just “messing around” as Miya said. </em></p><p>“Nope, although I did, once.” </p><p>Nonchalantly, Aran begins to pack the supplies used to decorate Atsumu’s room as Sakusa eyes him expectantly.</p><p>“When?”</p><p>“Doesn’t matter.” He takes a picture of Atsumu’s side of the room and grabs his bag of supplies. </p><p>“Then why mention it?”</p><p>“To answer your question…?”</p><p>Sakusa takes a slight step back, feeling himself get frustrated with Aran’s responses.</p><p>“Thanks for helping me decorate!” Aran gives Sakusa an eye-crinkling smile as he heads towards the door. Sakusa follows him to walk him out.</p><p>“And for the record,” Aran begins, “It was a long time ago. I don’t have feelings for him anymore, but he’s not bad to look at, don’t ya think?”</p><p>Sakusa hesitates, trying to figure out the best response to such a question.</p><p>“Anyway, I know that all of this stays between me and you, right?” Aran’s smile doesn’t falter.</p><p>“Right.”</p><p>Aran slaps Sakusa’s back, making Sakusa slightly jump at the impact.</p><p>“Great! Catch you later, Sakusa.” </p><p>Sakusa closes the door behind Aran and retreats back into his bed. Picking up his phone, he sees the time is a little after 11:00pm. He likely won’t stay up for longer than another hour, but he debates what to do in the meantime. If he goes on instagram, it’ll only be a couple of posts before he sees a happy couple or friends being friends. He’ll find himself feeling transient jealousy before it’s replaced by sadness. He wishes he could break down his walls, maybe ask a classmate if they want to grab lunch, or even his roommate. </p><p>
  <em> Maybe I just need a distraction. </em>
</p><p>Sakusa opens up the App Store on his phone.</p><p>
  <em> Should I redownload Tinder? </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my first fic in 2 years. If you like it, that's great, if not, I'm a poet. Also, chill with me on twitter @never_sh0w_fear I'm there when I'm not studying (:</p></blockquote></div></div>
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